


Traitors and Trust

by Little_Princess



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Blink and you miss it implied Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast, Gen, Pre-Relationship, ep 97 spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:47:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24048400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Princess/pseuds/Little_Princess
Summary: Caleb's introspection during and post the Essek reveal.
Relationships: Implied Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast
Kudos: 17





	Traitors and Trust

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sure other people have written this and I wrote this right after the live show and then resisted posting it until now. I wanted to explore Caleb in those moments with the Essek reveal, so here it is. I hope you enjoy it!   
> Thanks to my roommate for reading it and telling me to post it so long ago. Look- I did it.

Caleb Widogast felt like a fool watching as the illusion spell was dropped and Essek Thelyss was revealed. He had wondered about Essek’s intentions for weeks, wondering and questioning the Shadowhand and his apparent interest in the Mighty Nein. Caleb trusted few people in his life now, having paid the price for being too trusting once. The Mighty Nein had become trusted friends, something Caleb hadn’t been sure he could even have. And then there was Essek. He just decided he could trust Essek. He had researched with Essek. Essek was part of the reason Veth had her body back. And Essek was a traitor.   
Caleb was aware of his hand on Beau’s shoulder and it might have been the only thing keeping him upright right now. He felt weak, but he pushed it aside as he gazed through Frumpkin’s eyes, hoping to understand what had happened. What had made Essek into a traitor of the Dynasty.  
Caleb was well aware of the irony of the situation. By all accounts he had turned into a traitor of the Empire, although Caleb would resist that accusation. Giving back the beacon to the Dynasty was right. The war was pointless and if he could put an end to it by making decisions that would traditionally be called traitorous, he would do it in an instant. Yet, he could understand how Essek could turn traitor. A young man, partially at odds with the religion that governs all actions of his country, wanting to do research on a holy symbol to understand what it could do beyond how it was used now. The Empire would provide such avenues of research and Trent and the Assembly would delight in the seduction of a promising wizard to their side, to exploit him in countless ways that the young man could never see coming.  
Yes, Caleb could understand it. He could even see how Essek would defend his actions to himself. The gain of knowledge was worth any price he paid for it. Wasn’t it not long ago that those were Caleb’s exact thoughts on learning to manipulate time? Caleb could have never seen Essek’s betrayal coming because in so many situations he himself had been Essek. He had grown with the Mighty Nein, but that had made him blind to the actions and thoughts of Essek being so like his and the idea that Essek too may go to extreme lengths to achieve his goals.   
He would stop Essek. Caleb knew that now. If it meant that Essek had gone too far down the path and was no longer a person he could save without sacrificing everything they had worked so hard to gain, without endangering the Dynasty or the Empire and peace, Caleb would kill him. It made something in Caleb hurt to think that. Something that Caleb didn’t have the ability to take apart and examine because it might make the next few hours, perhaps even days, harder than they needed to be.


End file.
